Captain's Log
Saturday night was the signing at the Lake County Captains' game. It was a lot of fun, but it didn't go off without a hitch.
It rained on Saturday. On and off, 
Of course, years of being an artist have steeled me for such late nights.
The bobblefish just flew that day, too. I maybe signed for half an hour, because that's about how long it took for them to run out of the fish. After everyone dispersed, there wasn't too much doubling back. Still, it was worth it. I got a lot of compliments and met some great people. I even got to autograph one, and then later
The bobble fish even made it onto the scoreboard before the game. That was pretty sweet.
But, best of all, a lot of my family and friends showed up for the game. It's nice sharing such a time with then.
I won't be at the July signing, as matters of state (well, Comic-Con International) will keep me away. But I'll be back at the August one. Let's all hope for nothing but clear skies.
Oh, and click on any photo to embiggen.
Storin' and Growin'
For those of you who missed it, Love and Capes #7 (both the retail and FCBD versions) are available for sale in the Love and Capes store. Be fruitful and purchasify!
Middle Eight Song Lyrics
Another eight down, another eight song titles.
9. Except a scene or two erased by sweet red wine
Callin' Baton Rogue by Garth Brooks
10. She ain’t into wine and roses, beer just makes her turn up her nose
Whiskey Girl by Toby Keith
11. More laughs than a stack of comic books, a wild imagination, a college education
Daddy's Money by Ricochet
12. I wake up, and tear drops, they fall down like rain
These Days by Rascal Flatts
13. And it turns out that he was a missing person who nobody missed at all
Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks
14. What’s meant to be will always find a way
She's in Love with the Boy by Trisha Yearwood
15. Got two homes, car loans, in debt, and his third divorce ain’t even final yet
When it All Goes South by Alabama
16. Riding up and down Broadway on my old stud Leroy
Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy by Big and Rich
I had a lot of good guesses on theme, including songs with liquor and songs with city names. The guesses were so much better than what I planned that I almost switched my song list. But, ultimately, I stayed with the theme: country music.
Stay tuned for the back eight, coming soon. I like the theme thing, and I'll have to do another one. Something a little more complicated.
Is this your name or a doctor's eye chart?
Here's where things really get interesting. Wait, that's a horrible thing to say. The whole darn book is interesting. Here's where things get even more interesting. After this, Mark's in costume for just about the rest of the book. We're going to see the closest Love and Capes comes to action and fight scenes in the back eight. It'll be cool.
Hey, I don't want to give the whole book away. I think I've got a fairly surprising ending here, with Mark turning out to be the last Cylon...oh wait, wrong show. Anyway, I want to play my cards pretty close to the vest from here on out.
Still, this panel is one of my favorite kinds of scenes. It's not the fourth-panel beat/joke panel, yet there's still a joke in it. I like when the funny spills into other panels.
And, we've got a new lyrics contest going on, too.
Riding up and down Broadway on my old stud Leroy
Two-thirds done, and I’m now officially on the Back Eight. Go, me.
During a Sequential Tart interview, I was asked if we’d ever see the ice show. I never intended to delve into it, but when I got the question, it sparked an idea. So, for reasons which you will see in this issue, Abby gets a DVD of said “Crusader on Ice.”
It’s a charity event, so I needed to reference a disease. I couldn’t make light of a real disease, as it would very much unfunnyify the joke. Instead, I used Sacks-Minnelli from the tremendously funny You Look Nice Today podcast. If you want to know more about the dreaded disease, check them out here.
Also, I pride myself on being a man who learns from history. In this scene you’ll get to hear some of the songs from “Crusader on Ice.” These were all written by the talented Mike Bokausek. I could have written them, but then when Mike saw the scene, he would have been inspired to write his own, and they would have been better than mine. So I just went ahead and asked him to write the lyrics straight-up.
I’ll post the full lyrics later. How he managed to write an imaginary song and got it stuck in my head, I’ll never know.
Speaking of songs, I'll post the answers to the lyrics game in the next couple of days, too.
Rings of Saturn!
The 2008 Saturn Awards were Wednesday. You can see the full list of winners here. All the attendees received a lovely gift bag, including an issue of Love and Capes. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and hope you like the book.
And, if any big names do like the book and want to contribute a blurb for the back of the Love and Capes trade (and I'm looking at you Ben Browder and Claudia Black) let me know.
He'll save every one of us
There’s a universal constant: No matter what version of Flash Gordon there is, Princess Aura is always smokin’ hot.
Heck, I even have a soft spot for that 1980 Sam Jones/Melody Anderson movie. With Ornella Muti bringing the sexy as Princess Aura.
Yeah, Dale was the one for Flash, but you could see why he was tempted, can’t you?
With this, I've got twenty-five new images for my second Powerful Women sketchbook. I think it's a great one to end on, too. As soon as they come back from the printer, I'll make it availble for order her on the blog and on the site. And, I'll have it in San Diego, of course.
Toys Redux
Yesterday, I posted about my "I Love Comics Toys" article at Newsarama. I sent a link to it to my aunts who built the houses, and they responded with photos from that Christmas (thankfully there's only one where you can see me at all). This is what the dollhouses looked like before we lost so much of the stuff.
My Aunts were even smart enough to buy us two sets of figures, and hold on to the second set until we, as kids do, lost much of the first.
Here are the photos showing the superhero houses in their prime...
The Big Time
I'm a Trivia Question!
Over on the Comic Geek Speak podcast they do a regular "Stump the Rios" trivia question segment. They do three questions: DC, Marvel and an independent book.
On episode #458, the Indy Question is: In Thom Zahler's "Love and Capes", Amazonia writes a tell-all book. What's the title of the book?
Wow. That's just cool. I've never had anything I worked on hit big enough to qualify as a trivia question before. Thanks, guys!
Toy Boy
JK Parkin over at Newsarama asked me to write a guest blog for their "I (LOVE)" series. I was honored and thrilled to do it, although sorry that their venerable institution had fallen on such hard times that they contacted me. My article is all about my crazy love for comics toys. It includes such revelations as how my brother John is partially responsible for my obsession, how my cousin Jamie made an authentic Jason Todd figure, and how my aunts built John and me a way-awesome superhero dollhouse (er, actionfigurehouse) for Christmas one year.